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UNIVERSITY    OF     ILLINOIS     BULLETIN 

Issued  Weekly 
Vol.  XI  March  23,  1914  No.  30 

[Entered    as    second«class    matter   December    n,  1912,  at  the  post-office    at  Urbana. 
Illinois.  und:r  the  Act  of  Congress  of  August  24,  1912] 


Department    of    Household    Science 


The  Planning  of  Meals , 


Isabel  Bevier,  Ph.  M. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


-  ^ 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction 3 

Factors  in  the  Planning  of  Meals 4 

Tests  for  Food 6 

Glasses  of  Food 9 

Total  Nutrients 10 

Chemical  Composition  of  Vegetables 11 

Chemical  Composition  of  Fruits  and  Nuts 12 

Foods  Low  in  Cost  in  Proportion  to  Total  Food  Value  13 

Estimated  Requirement  for  Food  without  Muscular  Labor 14 

Dinner  Estimated  in  Calories 15 

Foods  High  in  Cost  in  Proportion  to  Total  Food  Value 16 

Percent  and  Net  Cost  of  Edible  Meat 17 

Variations  in  Cost  Due  to  Season  of  Year 18 

Commercial  Prepared  and  Home  Prepared  Food  19 

Cost  Due  to  Special  Manipulation 20 

Comparison  of  Cost  Due  to  Difference  in  Quality  and  Method  of 

Preparation 21 

Comparative  Cost  of  Different  Fuels  Used  in  Cooking 22 

Rules  for  Planning  of  Meals 24 

Menus  from  Four  Foods 26 


^-7  3P-i> 


^ 


THE  PLANNING  OF  MEALS 

"What  shall  we  eat?"  "What  shall  we  drink?" 
"Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed?"  These  are  ever-present 
questions  for  the  housekeeper.  Comparatively  few  people 
recognize  the  very  great  importance  to  the  welfare  of  the 
family  and  of  society  that  attaches  to  the  answer  that  is 
made  to  these  questions.  Indeed,  the  housekeeper  herself 
often  has  very  little  conception  of  the  importance  of  her 
work  from  the  standpoint  of  health  and  efficiency.  As  one 
has  said,  billions  of  money  are  spent  by  women  for  food, 
without  any  knowledge  of  the  economic  principles  involved, 
in  a  way  that  would  not  be  tolerated  in  any  other  business 
enterprise.  The  business  of  housekeeping  is  really  "big 
business",  whether  one  considers  the  capital  invested  or  the 
health  and  efficiency  of  the  individuals  concerned.  How  to 
secure  a  suitable  food  supply  for  the  family,  for  the 
nation,  is  a  live  question  that  taxes  the  ingenuity  alike  of 
producer  and  consumer,  of  rich  and  poor,  of  legislator  and 
statesman.  It  is  quite  time  that  the  woman  responsible  for 
the  selection  and  preparation  of  the  food  supply  realize  her 
responsibility  as  a  distributor  of  the  world's  wealth  and 
make  serious  preparation  to  meet  this  obligation  wisely  and 
well.  The  planning  of  meals  is  not  a  task  for  either  the  idle 
or  the  ignorant.  It  requires  ability  of  a  high  order,  know- 
ledge of  many  kinds,  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  values, 
imagination  to  enable  one  to  see  the  finished  product,  and 
executive  ability  to  provide  an  attractive  and  suitable  food 
supply  three  times  a  day,  year  in  and  year  out. 

Author's  Acknowledgment  :— The  author  of  this  bulletin 
acknowledges  the  valuable  help  given  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Rinaker 
Howe  and  other  members  of  the  staff  in  compiling  the  data  for 
this  publication. 


373254 


4 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  bulletin  to  contribute  in  a  small 
way  some  data  that  may  be  helpful  to  the  woman  in- 
terested in  studying  the  problem  of  the  food  supply.  In  be- 
ginning this  study,  it  is  assumed  that  the  woman  who  plans 
the  meals  knows:  1,  The  amount  of  money  she  can  spend 
for  food ;  2,  The  character  and  quantity  of  food  her  family 
needs,  not  desires;  3,  The  limitations  of  her  market  or 
cellar;  4,  The  limitations  of  preparation  and  service.  These 
will  be  discussed  in  turn. 

1.  The  amount  of  money  she  can  spend  for  food.  Some 
interesting  work  has  been  done  in  finding  out  the  propor- 
tion of  different  incomes  to  be  expended  for  food. 

The  work  done  by  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation  in  New 
York  City,  by  the  Massachusetts  Commission,  and  by  the 
British  Board  of  Trade,  on  the  cost  of  living  all  agree  that  a 
minimum  income  for  a  decent  standard  of  living  is  not  less 
than  $600  per  year  for  a  normal  family  of  father,  mother, 
and  three  children,— a  girl  of  ten  and  boys  of  six  and  four. 
This  means  an  average  of  22  cents  per  person  per  day  for 
food. 

The  New  York  Report  says  further  that  with  an  income 
of  $700  or  $800,  if  25  cents  per  person  per  day  is  spent  for 
food,  a  family  can  barely  support  itself,  and  that  $825  per 
year  is  required  to  maintain  a  decent  standard  of  living.  It 
is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  note  that  statistics  show 
that  60  to  70%  of  adult  males  earn  less  than  $600  per  year. 
This  fact  emphasizes  the  need  of  careful  expenditure  of  in- 
come. 

Table  I  shows  the  proportion  of  incomes  between  $500 
and  $2000  that  should  be  expended  for  food.  At  present 
prices  one  would  need  to  expend  much  ingenuity  to  provide 
an  adequate  food  supply  for  five  people  for  $1.20  per  day, 
and  yet  that  means  an  income  of  $1000.  The  table 
also  shows  that  an  income  of  $2000  does  not  mean  that  twice 
;is  much  is  to  be  expended  for  food  as  with  a  $1000  income. 


Table  I 
Proportion  op  Income  to  be  Spent  for  Food 


Amount  per 

Day  for 

Family  of 

Five 


Income 
per  Year 


$  500 
$  800 
$1000 
$1100 
$1200 
$1500 
$2000 


Percent 
for  Food 
per  Year 


55. 

45.6 

45. 

44.6 

45. 

36.8 

30. 


Total  for 

Food 
per  Year 


$275 
365 
450 
490 
540 
552 
600 


;  .75 

1.00 
1.20 
1.34 
1.48 
1.50 
1.64 


Amount  per 
Day  per 
Person 


$  .15 
.20 
.24 

.27 


.29+ 

.30 

.33 


2.  The  character  and  quantity  of  food  her  family  needs, 
not  desires.  People  often  desire  both  in  food  and  drink  that 
which  is  not  good  for  them.  The  requirement  for  food  is 
modified  by  age,  sex,  and  occupation,  and  this  fact  must  be 
taken  into  consideration  in  the  selection  of  the  family  diet- 
ary. The  food  requirement  for  a  growing  boy  and  that  for 
an  old  man  are  very  different  and  often  provision  must  be 
made  for  both  in  one  meal.  The  growing  boy  needs  more 
food  than  the  old  man  because  of  the  fact  of  the  boy's 
greater  muscular  activity  and  also  his  need  for  material  to 
supply  more  tissue  for  his  growing  body.  The  old  man 
needs  food  for  repair  but  not  for  growth;  also,  his  muscular 
activity  is  less  than  that  of  the  boy,  so  that  his  total  require- 
ment for  food  is  less.    See  page  16. 

3.  The  limitations  of  her  market  or  cellar.  If  the  sup- 
ply of  vegetables  is  limited  to  those  grown  on  the  farm,  it  is 
quite  possible  that  the  quantity  and  variety  are  less  than 
they  should  be.  Men  accustomed  to  work  in  a  ten-  or  forty- 
acre  field  feel  very  much  hampered  in  a  garden  and  are  apt 
to  regard  such  work  as  "putterin'."  And  yet  a  well-cared- 
for  garden  can  be  a  real  source  of  profit  and  satisfaction 
besides  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  food  supply.  Many 
vegetables  lose  very  much  in  flavor  by  being  carted  about, 
and  hence  all  possible  efforts  should  be  made  to  encourage 
the  home  garden.  A  suggestion  from  one  familiar  with  the 
difficulties  of  caring  for  a  garden  is  to  the  effect  that  it 
should  be  long  and  narrow  so  that  it  may  be  worked  by  a 


borse  without  too  frequent  turning,  and  that  it  should  be 

ed  near  the  barn,  preferably  between  that  and  the  corn- 
field, so  that  it  will  be  easy  to  "turn  in"  when  passing  to  and 
from  work. 

Even  the  small  market  is  improved  by  the  aid  of  the 
skilful  buyer  who  makes  reasonable  demands.  Lettuce  is 
available  in  must  places  the  year  round.  In  a  college  town, 
it  was  found  that  fifty  different  vegetables  were  in  market 
once  a  week  during  the  winter,  and  the  following  fifteen 
can  usually  be  found  in  season  almost  anywhere :  parsnips, 
carrots,  beets,  turnips,  rutabaga,  Irish  and  sweet  potatoes, 
cabbage,  spinach,  Brussel's  sprouts,  celery,  cauliflower, 
squash,  and  radishes.  The  market  man  really  wishes  to 
satisfy  his  customers,  and  a  persistent  request  from  even  a 
few  women  will  bring  results. 

4.  The  limitations  of  preparation  and  service.  In  most 
homes  this  is  a  large  question.  If  one  pair  of  hands  must 
keep  the  house,  take  care  of  the  children,  do  the  laundry 
work,  answer  the  door  bell  and  telephone,  and  cook  and 
serve  meals  between  times,  not  many  six-course  dinners  are 
to  be  expected. 

The  woman  is  tempted  always  to  get  the  food  that  will 
take  the  least  time  to  prepare  and,  as  will  be  shown  later, 
this  often  means  that  food  of  poorer  quality  is  secured  and 
a  I  greater  cost. 

Tests  for  Food 

All  products  have  certain  tests  by  which  their  value  is 
determined.  If  a  woman  buys  cotton  or  linen  or  china,  she 
applies  to  it  certain  tests,  such  as  "feel"  and  appearance, 
but  in  food  the  test  is  often  limited  to  the  one  of  appearance 
only.  There  are  oilier  and  more  important  tests,  however, 
to  be  applied  to  foods.  Hutchison  gives  four,  viz.,  chemical, 
physical,  physiological,  economic,  and  a  fifth,  psychological, 
may  well  be  added. 

The  Chemical  Test.  First,  then,  what  is  meant  by  the 
chemical  test  for  a  food?  Women  whose  school  days  are 
for  behind  them  are  apt  to  turn  away  rather  quickly  at  the 
suggrslion  of  chemistry  of  foods,  but  the  problem  is  not  at 


all  a  difficult  one.  Since  the  Exposition  in  Chicago  in  1893, 
there  has  been  published  a  steadily  increasing  number  of 
chemical  analyses  of  food  materials  by  which  their  compo- 
sition is  known.  Even  the  children  in  the  schools  know  now 
that  food  materials  are  composed  of  nutrients,  non-nutri- 
ents, and  water,  and  statements  like  the  following  are  in 
common  use. 


Table  II 

Chemical   Composition 


Kind  of  Food 


Total 
Nutrients 
Percent 


Beef,  round  

Oysters  

Eggs 

Cheese 

Wheat  flour 

Bread  

Beans,   navy  dried. 

Cabbage  

Apples 

Prunes 


32.1 
11.7 
23.3 
72.6 
87.2 
64.7 
87.4 
7.3 
11.4 
06.0 


In  other  words,  Table  II  shows  that  if  a  person  buys 
a  pound  of  round  steak,  she  really  gets  about  one-third  of  a 
pound  of  nutritive  material ;  of  oysters,  one-ninth ;  of  cheese, 
three-fourths;  of  prunes,  two-thirds.  The  chemical  test, 
then,  enables  one  to  know  whether  she  is  buying  nutrients 
or  refuse  or  water  or  all  of  these,  and  in  what  proportion. 

The  Physical  Test.  Everyone  understands  that  it  re- 
quires energy  to  walk,  talk,  play,  work,  or  rest,  and  that  the 
real  basis  of  this  energy  is  the  food  eaten.  The  measuring 
unit  used  in  determining  this  energy  is  not  so  familiar  a 
unit  as  the  pound  or  the  yard  stick.  It  is  the  calorie,  the 
amount  of  heat  required  to  raise  the  temperature  of  one 
pound  of  water  4°  Fahrenheit.  Tables  such  as  the  follow- 
ing, giving  the  value  in  calories  of  many  different  food  ma- 
terials, are  in  quite  general  use  among  dietitians. 


Table  III1 
Calories  per  Pounl 


Kind  of  Food 


Calories 

per 
Pound 


Beef,  chuck,2 

Porterhouse  steak,2 
Round  steak,2. . 

Sirloin  steak,2 

Broad,  average,2 . . . 

Cabbage 

Cheese  

Chocolate 

Eggs,  raw,3    

Apples.2 

Asparagus,  cooked 
Bacon,  smoked,2  . . . 

Beans,  dried 

Beans,  string,2 

Beans,  canned,2 


797 

1077 

649 

960 

1182 

121 

1890 

2768 

594 

285 

•  100 

2372 

1565 

176 

585 


(Sherman's  "Food  and  Nutrition."  pp.  319-29. 
-As  Purchased 
»Edible  Portion 


The  Physiological  Test.  Most  people  are  more  or  less 
familiar  with  this  test  in  some  of  its  phases.  For  example, 
Kiev  say.  "Eggs  do  not  agree  with  me,"  or,  "I  cannot  digest 
fresh  bread."  This  test  deals  not  only  with  the  behavior  of 
the  food  in  the  intestinal  tract,  but  also  with  its  absorption 
and  assimilation  in  the  body. 

The  Economic  Test.  To  many  people  this  seems  the 
most  universal  and  important  test,  and  yet,  unless  the  other 
tests  are  understood,  this  one  cannot  be  used  wisely.  It  is 
mil  simply,  "What  does  this  food  cost?"  but  rather,  "If  I  pay 
this  money  am  I  getting  a  fair  supply  of  nutrients  that  my 
system  can  digest?"  The  chemical  analysis  may  show 
thai  beeswax  is  rich  in  the  elements  found  in  food  sub- 
stances. Inil  what  can  the  stomach  do  with  it? 

II  is  well  a  I  this  point  to  recall  another  of  Hutchison's 
definitions.  He  says,  "A  good  food  contains  an  ample  pro- 
portion  of  nutritive  constituents  which  is  easily  digested  and 
absorbed  and  which  can  be  obtained  at  a  reasonable  cost." 

The  Psychological  Test.  This  test  is  of  far  greater  im- 
portance than  is  generally  understood.     Scientific  experi- 


ments  have  demonstrated  that  both  the  desire  for  food,  or 
appetite,  and  its  satisfaction  are  greatly  influenced  by  the 
impression  the  food  makes  on  the  mind  or  by  the  state  of 
mind  in  which  it  is  eaten.  This  is  the  philosophy  which  un- 
derlies the  universal  custom  of  choosing  for  the  dinner  hour 
a  time  free  from  care,  congenial  associates,  attractive 
service,  and  the  other  accessories  which  add  to  the  pleasure 
of  a  social  hour.  Few  people  are  totally  indifferent  to  the 
influence  of  well  prepared  food,  a  clean  table  cloth,  or  good 
company. 

Glasses  op  Food 
The  purchaser  of  the  family  food  supply  should  be  fa- 
miliar with  the  general  classes  of  food  stuffs,  the  principal 
sources  of  each,  and  the  work  which  each  is  supposed  to  do 
in  maintaining  the  body.  The  division  most  familiar  is  an 
inheritance  from  the  recreations  of  her  childhood  when  the 
world  and  the  fullness  thereof  belonged  either  to  the  animal, 
the  vegetable,  or  the  mineral  kingdom.    Science  has  shown 
that  these  kingdoms  contain  substances  not  so  different  as 
once  supposed,  so  the  classification  of  food  materials  is 
made  not  on  the  basis  of  their  source  but  of  the  work  they 
can  do  in  the  body.    This  body  needs  material  such  as  pro- 
teins to  supply  the  worn-out  tissues  and  to  make  new  cells. 
It  needs  material  such  as  carbohydrates  and  fats  to  provide 
energy  for  its  activities.    It  needs  also  certain  mineral  sub- 
stances for  the  bony  structure  or  framework,  and  water,  a 
cleansing  agent  within  as  well  as  without.    Thus  the  classi- 
fication of  food  materials  takes  the  following  form : 
Food  Materials 
Nitrogenous 
Protein 
Non-nitrogenous 
Carbohydrates 
Fats 
Mineral  matters 
Water 
Examples  of  protein  are  the  casein  of  cheese,  the  myosin 
of  meat,  and  the  gluten  of  wheat.  The  special  work  of  pro- 
tein is  to  build  and  repair  tissue,  but  it  also  yields  energy. 

Familiar  forms  of  carbohydrates  are  sugar  and  starch ; 
of  fat,  butter  and  olive  oil.  Both  carbohydrates  and  fats 
give  energy,  but  they  do  not  build  tissue. 


10 

The  purchaser  should  understand  that  all  foods  contain 
water  and  that  all  yield  energy,  and  also  that  most  foods  are 
combinations  of  what  are  known  as  the  five  food  princi- 
ples. The  woman  does  not  expect  to  ask  her  butcher  for 
protein,  nor  her  grocer  for  carbohydrates,  but  she  should 
know  what  to  buy  in  order  to  secure  protein  or  fat  or  car- 
bohydrates. The  following  tables  may  be  helpful  in  de- 
termining food  values  and  uses. 

Table  IV  shows  the  quantities  of  various  foods  that 
are  required  to  equal  a  quart  of  milk  in  total  nutrients. 

A  quart  of  standard  milk  weighing  34.4  ounces  con- 
tains 3.3%  protein,  4%  fat,  5%  carbohydrate,  and  .7%  min- 
eral matter,  or  13%  total  nutrients,  equal  to  4.47  ounces. 


Table  IV 
Total  Nutrients 


Kind  of  Food 


Beef,  round,  medium  fat. 

Oysters 

Codfish,  boneless  dried.  . 

Eggs  at  25C  per  doz 

Cheese,  Cheddar 

Wheat  flour 

Macaroni 

Cornmeal,  granular 

Potatoes  at  $1  per  bu 

Beans,  navy  dried    

Cabbage 

Cauliflower 

Apples  at $1.60  perbu.... 
Bananas  at  20f  per  doz... 
Prunes 


Total 
Nutrients 
Percent 


mount     j    Cost 
Required      per 
Ounces       Pound 


32.1 
41.7 

42.7 
23.3 
72.6 
87.2 
89.7 
87.5 
17.4 
87.4 
7.3 
7.7 
11.4 
16.1 
66.0 


13.9 

38.2 

10.4 

19.1 

6.1 

5.1 

4.9 

5.1 

25.7 

5.1 

61.2 

58.0 

39.2 

27.7 

6.8 


$  .160 
.200 
.150 
.180 
.200 
.030 
.150 
.025 
.016 
.062 
.025 
.120 
.028 
.085 
.125 


Net  Cost 


$.14 
.477 
.097 
.215 
.076 
.009 
.046 
.008 
.025 
.019 
.076 
.435 
.068 
.147 
.053 


It  is  evident  from  the  first  column  of  this  table  that 
when  one  buys  a  pound  of  round  steak,  one  probably  se- 
cures  32.1%,  or  about  y3  pound,  of  nutritive  materials;  of 
cheese,  about  %  pound;  and  that  a  pound  of  either  wheat 
flour,  corn  meal,  dried  navy  beans,  or  macaroni,  will  mean 
aboul  V,0  pound  of  nutrilive  material. 


11 

The  second  column  shows  how  different  quantities  of 
various  foods,  because  of  difference  in  chemical  composi- 
tion, yield  equal  weights  of  nutritive  material.  For  example, 
it  requires  38.2  ounces  of  oysters  to  yield  4  ounces,  or  14 
pound  of  nutrients,  and  only  13.9  ounces  of  beef  round, 
practically  3  times  as  much,  by  weight,  of  oysters  as  of  beef. 
This  is  one  of  the  times  when  a  pound  does  not  seem  to  be 
a  pound.  This  shows  how  much  chemical  analysis  has 
helped  to  determine  real  food  value. 

Beef  contains  32.1%  nutrients;  oysters,  only  11.7%,  or 
about  V3  as  much  as  beef.  So  about  3  times  as  much  oys- 
ters must  be  taken  to  secure  an  equal  amount  of  nutrients. 
The  problem  works  out  in  this  way : 

32.1%  of  13.9  =  4.46  oz.  nutrients  in  13.9  oz.  beef. 
11.7%  of  16  oz.  =  1.87  oz.  nutrients  in  1  lb.  oysters. 
To  get  4.46  oz.  nutrients  would  require  4.46  -^  1.87  = 
2.38.    Therefore  2.38  lb.  oysters  equal  13.9  oz.  beef  in 
total  nutrients. 

The  last  column  in  this  table  helps  to  an  appreciation 
of  the  terms  "cheap"  and  "dear" ;  for  example,  5  ounces  of 
wheat  flour,  about  1  pound  of  round  steak,  and  about  4 
pounds  of  oysters,  yield  about  x/4  pound  of  nutrients  each, 
and  their  cost  varies  as  V10  of  a  cent,  14  cents,  and  47  cents 
respectively.  One  is  led  to  use  the  terms  cheap  and  dear 
rather  carefully  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  and  to  understand 
why  oysters  are  a  luxury  and  wheat  flour  one  of  the  cheap- 
est and  best  sources  of  protein.  Even  the  despised  prune 
shows  good  food  value. 

Table  V  gives  good  examples  of  what  are  known  as 
watery  foods.  One  buys  vegetables  not  for  the  amount  of 
nutritive  material,  but  for  the  mineral  salts,  water,  and  bulk 
which  they  give  to  the  diet,  as  well  as  the  attractiveness  and 
freshness  they  add  to  a  meal  when  prepared  and  served 
nicely.  Moreover,  asparagus,  lettuce,  and  spinach  give  the 
necessary  element  of  iron  to  the  system  in  an  attractive  and 
useful  form.  This  table  is  further  interesting  in  showing 
how  the  calories,  and  consequently  the  fuel  values,  in- 
crease as  the  percentage  of  water  decreases,  and  that,  as  a 


i2 


Table  V 
Chemical  Composition  of   Vegetables1 


Kind  of  Food 

Water 
Per- 
cent 

Protein 
Percent 

Fat 
Per- 
cent 

Carbo- 
hydrates 
Percent 

Ash 
Per- 
cent 

Calories 
Per  Lb. 

Cucumbers 

95.4 

94.7 
94.5 
94.4 
94.3 
94.0 
92.3 
92.3 
91.5 
89.6 
89.2 
88.2 
87.6 
87.5 
83.0 
78.2 
75.4 
74.6 
68.5 
0.4 
9.5 

.8 
1.2 
1.1 

.6 
.9 
1.8 
1.8 
2.1 
1.6 
1.3 
2.3 
1.1 
1.6 
1.6 
1.6 
2  2 
3.'l 
7.0 
7.1 
18.1 
24.6 

.2 

'.3 
.1 
.7 
.4 
.2 
.5 
.3 
.3 
2 

'.3 

.4 

.3 

.1 

.5 

.1 

1.1 

.5 

.7 

1.5 

1.0 

3.1 

2.9 

3.3 

3.6 

3.9 

3.3 

4.7 

3.2 

5.6 

8.1 

7.4 

9.3 

9.9 

9.7 

13.5 

18.4 

19.7 

16.9 

22.0 

65.9 

62.0 

.5 

.9 

1.0 

.7 

.5 

.7 

.7 

2.1 

1.0 

.8 

.8 

1.0 

.6 

1.1 

1.4 

1.0 

.7 

1.0 

1.7 

4.1 

2.9 

80 
90 

Celery 

85 
105 

105 

Asparagus2 

Cauliflower2 

Spinach2. 

105 
140 
110 
145 

Turnips 

Beans,  string 

Carrots 

185 
195 
210 
225 

Beets  

215 

Parsnips 

300 
385 

470 

Peas,  green 

465 
570 

Lima  beans,  dried2.. . 
Peas,  dried2 

1625 
1655 

iCompiled  from  Bulletin  28,  "Composition  of  American  Food  Materials",   Office  of 
Experiment  Stations,  U.  S.  Dept.   of  Agriculture. 
As  Purchased. 


whole,  vegetables  are  low  in  nutritive  value,  but  do  supply 
bulk  and  mineral  salts.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  the  indigestible  residue  of  vegetables  has  an 
important  work  to  do  in  stimulating  the  movements  of  the 
alimentary  canal.  The  so-called  "predigested  foods"  and 
animal  foods  in  general  lack  this  "indigestible  residue." 

Table  VI  shows  the  composition  of  two  attractive  and 
widely  differing  forms  of  food.  Fruits  are  high  in  water 
content;  nuts,  low.  The  nutrient  of  fruits  is  very  largely 
sugar,  while  nuts  are  relatively  rich  in  fat  and  protein.  The 
high  food  value  of  bananas,  prunes,  figs,  dates,  and  raisins, 
because  of  their  sugar,  should  not  be  overlooked,  neither 
the  high  value  in  calories  of  the  various  nuts.  One  realizes 
Ilia  I  a  dessert  of  fresh  fruits  might  add  a  pleasing  flavor  and 
not  much  nutritive  material  to  a  meal,  while  a  dessert  of 
nuts  might  be  entirely  too  heavy. 


13 


Table  VI 

Chemical  Composition  of  Fruits  and  Nuts1 


Kind  of  Food 


Water  melons 
Strawberries . 

Lemons 

Cranberries  . . 

Oranges 

Apples 

Pears .... 

Raspberries. . 

Plums , 

Grapes 

Bananas 

Prunes,  dried. 
Figs,  dried.... 
Dates,  dried.... 

Raisins 

Chestnuts  — 
Butternuts..  . 

Almonds 

Hickory  nuts.. 


Water 
Percent 

Protein 
Percent 

Fat 
Per- 
cent 

Carbo- 
hydrates 
Percent 

Ash 
Per- 
cent 

Calories 

92.4 

.4 

.2 

6.7 

.3 

140 

90.4 

1.0 

.6 

7.4 

.6 

180 

89.3 

1.0 

.7 

8.5 

.5 

205 

88.9 

.4 

.6 

9.9 

.2 

215 

86.9 

.8 

9 

11.6 

.5 

240 

84.6 

.4 

.5 

14.2 

.3 

290 

84.0 

.6 

.5 

14.1 

A 

295 

84.0 

1.7 

1.0 

12.6 

.6 

310 

78.4 

1.0 

20.1 

.5 

395 

77.4 

1.3 

1.6 

19.2 

.5 

450 

75.3 

1.3 

.6 

22.0 

.8 

460 

22.3 

2.1 

73.3 

2.3 

1400 

18.8 

4.3 

.3 

74.2 

>.k 

1475 

15.4 

2.1 

2.8 

78.4 

1.3 

1615 

14.6 

2.6 

3.3 

76.1 

3.4 

1605 

5.9 

10.7 

7.0 

74.2 

9  2 

1875 

4.4 

27.9 

61.2 

3.5 

2.9 

3165 

4.8 

21.0 

54.9 

17.3 

2.0 

3030 

3.7 

15.4 

67.4 

11.4 

2.1 

3345 

Compiled   from  Bulletin   28,    "Composition   of   American    Food    Materials,"   Office  of 
Experiment  Stations,   U.   S.  Dept.   of  Agriculture. 


Table  VII  shows  yet  another  method  of  estimating  food 
values,  viz.,  their  heat  value  or  "calories  per  pound." 

In  some  sanitariums,  the  daily  menu  is  given  in  terms 
of  calories  instead  of  the  usual  a  la  carte  form.  Perhaps  the 
day  will  come  when  the  housekeeper  will  order  her  food  in 
calories  instead  of  pounds. 

In  this  table  it  is  easy  to  see  that  corn  meal  and  wheat 
flour  still  deserve  honorable  mention,  and  that  cross  ribs  of 
beef  appear  much  cheaper  than  round  steak,  while  the  fig- 
ures for  corned  beef  and  rice  are  somewhat  surprising.  Per- 
haps more  surprising  is  the  comparison  that  may  be  made 
in  the  cost  of  whole  milk  and  round  steak.  Even  at  10  cents 
per  quart,  which  is  at  least  two  or  three  times  as  much  as 
milk  costs  the  farmer,  it  is  cheaper  than  round  steak  at  15 
cents  per  pound.  If  these  facts  were  better  understood,  a 
more  liberal  use  of  whole  milk  might  prevail. 


14 

Table  VIJ 

Foods  Low  in  Cost  in  Proportion  to  Their  Total  Food  Value1 


Kind  of  Food 


Corn  meal ■ 

Wheat  flour 

Oat  meal 

Sugar,  granulated 

Beef  heart  

Beans,  dried  navy • 

Cross  ribs  of  beef 

Lard,  best  leaf 

Potatoes  at  $1  per  bu 

Peanuts,  shelled 

White  bread  

Hnskot  of  beef 

Rice 

Oleomargarine 

Flank  of  mutton 

Bacon  

Dates 

Corned  beef  — 

Skim  milk  at  .10c  per  gal.. 
Whole  milk  at  .10c  per  qt 

Salt  mackerel  

Butter .. 

Cheese,  cheddar 

Walnut  meats  

Round  steak 


Cost  per 

Lb. 
(Jan.  1913) 


;.025 
.03 
.45 
.06 
.05 
.062 
.08 
.18 
.016 
.12 
.07 
.07 
.10 
.22 
.125 
.20 
.10 
.14 
.0125 
.046 
.10 
.36 
.22 
.45 
.15 


Calories 
per  Lb. 


1655 
1655 
1860 
1860 
1320 
1605 
1765 
4220 

385 
2560 
1225 
1165 
1630 
3525 
1900 
3030 
1450 
1990 

170 

314 
1155 
3605 
2145 
3300 

895 


Ounces  in 
lOOCalories 


.96 

.96 

.86 

.86 

1.21 

.99 

.906 

.37 

4.15 

.62 

1.30 

1.37 

.98 

.45 

.85 

.52 

1.10 

.80 

9.40 

5.09 

1.38 

.44 

.74 

.48 

1.70 


Cost  of  100 
alories 


5.0015 
.0018 
.0024 
.0032 
.0037 
.0038 
.0040 
.0040 
.0041 
.0046 
.0057 
.0060 
.0061 
.0062 
.0065 
.0066 
.0068 
.0070 
.0073 
.0101 
.0086 
.0099 
.0102 
.0136 
.0167 


'Compiled  from  Bulletin  28.  '"Composition  of  American  Food  Materials,"  Office  of 
Experiment  Stations,   U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture. 


The  calorie  as  a  unit  of  measure  is  not  so  improbable 
as  at  first  considered  because  it  develops  that  100  calories 
frequently  means  the  amount  usually  served  one  person,  of 
bread,  mashed  potatoes,  and  meat. 

The  accompanying  menu  card,  Table  VIII,  shows  the 
calorie  portion  in  actual  use. 

No  hard  and  fast  rules  can  be  given  as  to  the  total 
calories  required  by  an  individual  for  a  day's  ration,  be- 
cause so  many  factors,  such  as  age,  size,  and  occupation 
enter  into  the  problem.  This  requirement  is  usually  esti- 
mated  in  kilograms  per  pound  of  body  weight.  (A  kilogram 
is  2.2  pounds.)  Sherman2  estimates  that  children  of  from 
10  In  13  years  of  age  require  70  to  60  calories  per  day  per 
kilogram  of  body  weight;  of  from  14  to  17  years,  60  to  45 

•Sherman:  Chemistry  at  Food  and  Nutrition,  i>.  172. 


15 


Table  VIII 

Dinner  Estimated   in   Calories1 


Soups — 
Cream  of  vegetable  soup 
Tomato  bouillon 

Entrees — 

Braized  protose 

Nuttolerte  Fricassee. . .  ■ 
Bean  croquettes. 

Vegetables — 

Baked  potatoes 

Savora  cream  sauce 

Potato  loaf  

Baked  squash 

Brussels  sprouts 

Relishes — 

Celery 

Fruit  salad  

Grape  catsup 

Malt  honey 

Malt  honey  with  butter 
Malt  sugar 

Breads — 
Whole  wheat   bread — i 

slice  

White  bread — 1  slice.. 
Entire  graham  bread — 

slice    

Breakfast  toast-2  pieces 
Toasted  granose  (wheat) 

biscuit — 2 

Toasted  rice   biscuit — 2 

Bran  biscuit — 2 

Nut  butter 

Dairy  butter — 1  square 

Cooked  Fruits — 

Peach   sauce 

Stewed  figs 

Beverages — 

Apple  juice  

Grape  juice 

Milk    

Yogurt  buttermilk 

Sanitas  cocoa 

Hot  malted  nuts 

Minute  brew — 1  teacup- 

ful 

Cream — 1  pitcherful 
Sugar — 1  sugar- 
spoonful  — 
Kaffir  tea    

Desserts— , 

Layer  cake 

Oranges 

Almonds 


Total 
Cal- 
ories 


125 
75 

125 
100 
125 

100 
75 

68 
50 
50 


75 
75 

200 
200 
100 


75 

75 

75 
50 

50 

50 

125 

150 

100 

75 
150 

50 

50 

125 

75 

125 

200 

10 
115 

25 
10 

325 
75 

50 


Pro- 
tein 
Cal- 
ories 


Fats 
Cal- 
ories 


36 


56 
40 

1 

50 

25 

6 

31 

0 
8 
7 
0 
100 
16 


12 

1 

0 

31 

105 

99 

1 
1 

0 

2 

67 

5 

89 

96 

1 
107 

0 
1 

115 

2 

38 


Car- 
bohy. 
Cal- 
ories 


Oun- 
ces 


29 
40 

14 

5 

62 

66 

200 

100 

81 


61 
62 

61 
34 

42 
46 
73 
17 

0 

71 
143 

50 
44 
35 
42 
23 


12 

25 

8 

190 

69 

5 


Por- 
tion 


4 

2V± 
3 

2y4 

3% 

2% 
3% 


1 

2V4 

1% 

% 


3y2 

3 

2% 
4 


5 
1% 


2y4 

4 
2% 

4y4 


Cal- 
ories 
Eaten 


iYi 

% 


Hi 

1 

1% 


% 
H4 

y2 

% 
% 

2 
2 
1 


% 
% 

% 

y2 

y2 

y2 

i% 

iy2 

i 


ya 

y2 

iy4 

% 

H4 


Ao 
Hi 


3% 

% 

y2 


To  ascertain  the  number  of  calories  eaten,  find  the  sum   of  the 
Total  calories  of  each  article  eaten. 


'Courtesy  of  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium. 


16 

calories  per  kilogram;  while  the  need  of  middle-aged  men 
and  women  with  moderate  exercise  is  40  to  45  calories  per 
kilogram  of  body  weight.  He  further  emphasizes  this  dif- 
ference in  food  requirement  for  different  ages  by  a  table  in 
which  it  is  shown  that  the  boy  of  10,  without  muscular 
labor,  requires  70  calories  per  kilo  of  body  weight;  the  boy 
of  15,  under  similar  circumstances,  56  calories ;  the  man  of 
40,  36  calories;  the  man  of  60,  34  calories;  and  the  man  of 
80,  27  calories.  This  latter  statement  in  terms  of  pounds 
would  read  thus: 

Table  IX 
Estimated  Requirement  for  Food  Without  Muscular  Labor 


Age 
Years 

Calories  per  Day  per 
Pound  of  Body  Weight 

Total  Calories 

per  Day 

(Approximately) 

10 

31.7 
25.4 
16.3 
15.4 
12.2     * 

1800 

15 

2800 

40 

2500 

60 

2200 

80 

1600 

Table  X  deals  with  the  more  expensive  foods.  It 
shows  that  rib  roast  and  white  fish,  at  the  same  price  per 
pound,  have  a  very  different  value  in  calories  of  fuel  value, 
while  sweetbreads  at  80  cents  per  pound  are  cheaper  per 
100-calorie  portion  than  chicken  broilers  at  30  cents  per 
pound,  also  that  the  difference  in  price  between  porterhouse 
and  tenderloin  of  beef  is  not  warranted  by  the  cost  per 
calorie  portion.  Note  also  the  contrasts  afforded  by  a  com- 
parison of  beef  heart1  and  tenderloin  represented  by  the  cost 
price  of  5  cents  per  pound  and  60  cents  per  pound,  respec- 
tively, with  a  difference  of  only  10  in  fuel  value  per  pound. 
Truly,  flavor  has  a  high  place,  as  it  should,  in  food  values. 

>8ee  page  M 


Table  X 

Foods  High  in  Cost  in  Proportion  to  Their  Total  Food  Value1 


Kind  of  Food 
as  Purchased 


£2 


O 

u 


©o* 


o£ 


Mushrooms 

Lettuce 

Lobster,  fresh 

Black  bass 

Chicken,  broiler 

Sweetbreads  

Oysters 

Cauliflower 

Rhubarb 

Celery 

White  fish 

Oranges 

Tenderloin  of  beef 

Porterhouse  steak 

Sirloin  steak 

Roquefort  cheese 

Leg  lamb,  medium  fat- 
Rib  roast,  medium  fat. 


.65 

210 

.15 

75 

.25 

140 

.30 

205 

.30 

295 

.80 

825 

.20 

230 

.12 

140 

.05 

65 

.05 

70 

.20 

325 

.10 

170 

.60 

1330 

.30 

1110 

.25 

985 

.45 

1700 

.18 

870 

.20 

1155 

7.6 
21.3 
11.4 
7.8 
5.4 
1.93 
6.9 
11.4 
24.6 
22.8 
4.9 
9.4 
1.2 
1.44 
1.62 
.94 
1.80 
1.38 


.309 
.200 
.178 
.146 
.101 
.095 
.087 
.085 
.077 
.070 
.061 
.058 
.045 
.027 
.025 
.024 
.020 
.017 


1Based  on  Bulletin  28,   "Composition  of  American  Food  Materials."    Office  of  Experi- 
ment Stations,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 


Most  women  feel  more  at  a  loss  in  the  selection  of 
cuts  of  meat  than  of  almost  any  other  single  article  of  food. 
A  daily  visit  to  the  meat  market  for  about  two  weeks,  with  a 
study  of  meat  charts,  will  familiarize  one  with  cuts  by  the 
name  the  local  butcher  gives  them.  These  names  vary  in 
different  localities,  and  it  is  well  to  begin  by  understanding 
one  man's  terms  well.  Then  the  problem  remains  of  the 
choice  and  use  of  these  different  cuts.  There  are  people  to 
whom  nothing  is  so  desirable  as  a  juicy  steak,  and  with 
them  an  attempt  to  substitute  a  cheaper  cut  results  in  a  large 
expenditure  of  time,  gas,  and  energy  with  very  unsatisfac- 
tory results.  Those  who  have  had  that  experience  will  be 
interested  in  seeing  how  little  porterhouse  and  chuck  rib 
differ  in  the  net  price  per  pound  of  edible  meat.  Many 
savory  dishes  are  made  from  the  cheaper  cuts  of  meat,  but 


18 

sometimes  in  estimating  the  value  of  this  cheaper  dish, 
the  time  and  the  labor  involved  are  forgotten.  There  are 
people  who  prefer  one  good  steak  one  day  and  no  meat  the 
n<xt  to  a  daily  offering  of  cheap  cuts  or  meat  substitutes. 
Table  XI  emphasizes  again  the  large  proportion  of  edible 
meat  the  rump  yields. 


Table  XI 
Percent  and  Net  Cost  of  Edible  Meat  From  Different  Cuts1 


Kind  of 
Meat 


Percent    of 
Edible  Meat 


Uz.  Edible 

Portion    in 

Pound 


Price  per 

Pound 
Jan. 1913 


Net  Price 

per  Pound 

Edible  Meat 


Beef 

Brisket..     . 

Rump 

Chuck  rib. .. 

Porterhouse 

Ribs 

Round 

Shin 

Tongue 

Veal 

Cutlets 

Breast 

Mutton 

Leg 

Chops 

Fore  quarter  cut 
Pork 

Loin 

Salt  pork  . . 

Bacon 

Ham 


76.7 
81.0 
46.2 
87.3 
79.9 
91.5 
61.7 
73.5 

96.6 
75.5 

82.3 

85.2 
78.8 

80.7 
91.9 
91.3 
87.8 


12.27 
12,96 

7.39 
13.96 
12.78 
14.64 

9.87 
11.76 

15.45 
12.08 

13.16 
13.63 
12.60 

12.91 
14.70 
14.60 
14.04 


.07 
.10 
.10 
.20 
.15 
.15 
.03 
.22 

.20 
.125 

.15 
.15 
.125 

.15 
.125 
.20 
.20 


.09 

.125 

.22 

.23 

.20 

.16 

.05 

.298 

.21 
.17 

.18 

.175 

.20 

.20 
.13 
.22 
!23 


•Based  on  Bulletin  28,  "Composition  of  American  Food  Materials." 
ment  Stations,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 


Office  of  Experi- 


One  other  factor  which  enters  into  the  cost  of  food  is 
its  seasonableness.  If  the  dweller  in  the  North  will  have 
strawberries  in  mid-winter,  she  must  expect  to  pay  the  cost 
of  transportation  and  the  consequent  loss  entailed  by  the 
process.  The  wise  buyer  does  not  expect  to  buy  sugar  in  the 
canning  season,  but  in  January  or  February,  and  she  pre- 
pares her  own  cold  storage  eggs  for  the  winter  of  her  need. 


19 

Table  XII 

Variations  in  Cost  of  Foods  Due  to  Season  ok  Vearj 


Kind  of  food 


January 


April 


July 


October 


Fresh  eggs 

Butter  

Spring  lamb 

Chicken  broilers.  . 

Oysters 

Lettuce 

Tomatoes 

Cucumbers 

New  beets 

Egg  plant 

Mushrooms 

Apples,  Ben  Davis. 

Grape  fruit 

Oranges 

Cranberries 

Pineapples 

Strawberries     

Rhubarb 

Sugar  


$.50  doz. 

.45  lb. 

.42  lb. 

.25  lb. 

.45  qt. 

.20  lb 

.20  lb 

.20  apiece 

.08  bunch 

.25  apiece 
1.00  lb. 
i.00  bu. 

.10  apiece 
40  doz. 

.125  qt. 

.25  m. 

.75  qt. 

.25  lb. 
5.40  cwt. 


$.22 

.35 

.25 

.35-. 40 

.'.0 

.25 

.15 

.15 

.05 

.20 

.75 
1.75 

.20 

.30 

.15 

.20 

.25 

.20 
5.60 


.30 
.28 

.18-. 20 
.22-25 


.40 

10 

.15 

01 

.05 

01 

.03 

02 

.08 

10 

.15 

.65 

.65 

.00 

.50 

.25 

60 

.45 

.10 

.10 

.85 

.10 

.015 

.10 

.25 

5.60 

$.35 
.30 

.18-.20 
.20 


Prices  in  Urbana  and  Champaign,   Illinois,   1910. 


Table  XIII  suggests  many  questions,  some  of  which 
are  not  easily  answered.  Two  meals,  one  of  "homemade," 
the  other  of  commercial  foods,  were  served  to  thirteen  peo- 
ple, the  former  at  a  cost  of  16  cents  per  person,  and  the  lat- 
ter at  a  cost  of  25  cents  per  person.  Those  who  partook  of 
the  food  said  that  the  "homemade"  had  much  the  better 
flavor.  The  one  notable  exception  to  the  general  rule  that 
the  "homemade"  was  cheapest  was  found  in  the  cake,  which 
cost  more  money  than  the  "store"  one  and  tasted  "twice  a? 
good." 

It  may  be  necessary  to  prepare  a  meal  from  commer- 
cial goods,  but  one  ought  to  do  it  understanding  what  the 
facts  are  and  not  labor  under  the  delusion  that  one  is  saving 
both  time  and  money.  It  sometimes  happens  that  this  ap- 
parent necessity  of  using  canned  goods  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  planning  of  the  meals  has  been  neglected  until  it  is 
too  late  to  secure  and  cook  supplies,  so  a  visit  to  the  grocer 
and  a  supply  of  canned  goods  seems  necessary. 


20 

Table  XIII 

Comparison  of  Cost  of  Meal  from  Commercially  Prepared  and 

Home  Prepared  Foods  for  Dinner  for  Thirteen  People 


Menu 


Tomato  soup  . . 

Toast 

Pork  and  beans 

Lettuce 

Salad  dressing. 

Rolls 

Butter 

Cake 

Grape  juice. .. 


Commercially  Prepared 
(Jan.,  1910) 


.30  (3  cans) 

.10    1  pkg.  Holland  Rusks) 

.45  (3  cans; 

.10  (1   head) 

.25  (1  bottle  Yacht  Club; 

.15  fl%  doz.) 

.17  '8  oz.i 

.30  (1V»  lb.) 


1.00 
2.82 


4  pts. 


Home  Prepared 
(Jan.,  1910) 


$  .112  (3%  cups) 
.050(1  loaf) 
.210(7i/LM',ups) 
.100(1  head) 
.045  [i  cup) 
.095  (1%  doz.) 
.162  (7  oz.) 
.35(1  loaf  cake) 
cake  .194 
icing  .156 
.20  (4  pts) 

$1,324 


Commercially   Prepared 


Home  Prepared 


Costoftime,2  M:hrs.atl50$  .375 

Cost  of  gas 0057 

Cost  of  food 2.82 

Total  cost $3.2007 

Cost  per  person $    .246 


4%  hrs.  at  15?  $.6375 

069 

.  $  1.324 

$2.0305 

$  .156 


Table  XIV  brings  up  another  phase  of  buying,  viz.,  in 
bulk  or  in  package,  the  large  quantity  or  the  small.  The 
answer  to  that  question  depends  upon  several  things, — upon 
the  amount  of  storage  room  available,  whether  the  goods 
purchased  keep  well,  whether  one  has  money  to  buy  in  quan- 
tity, whether  one  has  time  to  prepare  the  food  from  the  raw 
materials.  The  examples  given  show  the  economy  of 
buying  in  the  larger  quantity.  Anyone  expecting  to  use 
olive  oil  would  certainly  prefer  to  buy  it  at  the  rate  of  $3.50 
per  gallon  rather  than  at  $6.40  by  the  pint  bottle.  It  is  also 
clear  that  one  would  not  care  to  pay  16  cents  per  quart  for 
gelatin  when  it  can  be  had  for  6  cents. 


2\  ■ 

Table  XIV 

Costs  Due  to  Special  Manipulation 


Food 

How  Purchased 

Remarks 

Cost 
Jan. 1913; 

Olive  oil  . .   . 

1  pt.  bottle 

1  Vi  cup- 

$.60  or  $6.40  gal. 

Olive  oil 

1  qt.  can 

4  cups 

1.00  or  1.00  gal. 

Olive  oil 

1  gal.  can 

16  cups 

3.50  gal. 

Rice    

In  bulk 

Good  quality 

.08  to  .10  per  rb. 

Rice 

In  pkg. 

"         " 

.125  to  .15  per  lb. 

Rice 

Puffed  in  pkg. 

1  Op  per  pkg. 

.27  per  lb. 

Corn  meal. . . 

In  paper  sack 

Good  quality 

.025  per  lb . 

Coi  n  meal . .. 

In  pkg. 

Quaker  brand 

.04  per  tb. 

Corn  flakes=EC 

In  pkg. 

10P  per  pkg. 

.1 17  per  lb  • 

Wheat 

In  bulk 

Whole  wheat 

.02  per  lb. 

Wheat 

Wheat  meal 

biscuits 

In  pkg. 

.50  per  lb. 

Dried  beef.. 

Sliced  in  market 

Good    quality 

.35  per  If j . 

Dried  beef. . 

In  jar  sliced 

15C  per  jar 

.51  per  lb. 

Bacon 

Sliced  in  market 

Good   quality 

.25  per  It). 

Bacon 

In  glass  jar 

28C  per  jar 

.47  per  lb. 

Gelatin,  Knox 

VlVi0  per  pkg. 

Makes  2  qts. 

.063  per  qt. 

Gelatin.  Cox.. 

t2%j?  per  pkg. 

Makes  1  qt. 

.12  per  qt. 

Gelatin,  Ply- 

mouth Rock 

12Mi0  per  pkg. 

Makes  %   qt. 

.156  per  qt. 

Jello  (sweet- 

ened) 

8%  per  pkg 

Makes  \'-2  qt. 

.166  per  qt. 

Filled  dates. . 

In  glass  jar 

38  dates 

.25  per  jar 

Filled  dates.. 

Made  at    home 

38  dates 

.108 

Corned  beef 

hash 

In  tin  can 

30P  per  can 

.  48  per  lb  . 

Corned  beef 

hash 

Made  at  home 

Duplicate  of 
above 

.099  per  TTi . 

Table  XV  is  interesting  because  it  shows  com- 
parative costs  due  to  both  quality  of  food  and  to  method  of 
preparation.  It  is  convenient  to  know  how  much  more  a 
meal  costs  when  porterhouse  steak  is  used  instead  of  Ham- 
burg, or  the  difference  in  cost  between  nut  bread  and  butter 
rolls,  and  how  escalloped  and  fried  potatoes  compare  in 
cost.  With  these  data  one  could  plan  an  expensive  meal 
with  cheaper  vegetables,  or  vice  versa. 


22 


Table  XV 

Comparison  of  Costs  Due  to  Difference  in  Quality  and  Method 
of    Preparation  of  Food  in  Quantity  to  Serve  Thirteen  People  ' 


Meat 


Potatoes 


Bread 


Porterhouse  steak 

$1.20 

Rib  roast 1.13 

Corned  beef  hash      .57 
Hamburg  steak..      .56 

Tongue 45 

Flank  steak 45 

Stuffed  round  steak 

38 

Beefloaf 34 

Short  ribs 32 

In  Shepherd's  pie      .30 
Creamed  dried  beef 

25 

Corned  beef 15 

•Compiled  in  1910. 


Stuffed $  .18 

Escalloped 14 

Mashed 11 

Creamed 09 

Riced 09 

Browned 09 

Baked 09 

Boiled,  butter  and 

parsley 08 

French  fried.   ...      .06 

Boiled 05 

Potato   in   Shep- 
herd's pie 04 


Nut  bread $  .37 

Whole   wheat 

muffins 27 

Butter  rolls 19 

French  rolls. . .      .17 

Popovers .17 

Whole  wheat 

gems .15 

Light  rolls 09 

White  bread...  .08 
White  muffins..  .08 
Graham  muffins  .07 
Baking  powder 

biscuit 05 

Graham  bread..      .05 


One  very  important  factor  in  the  cost  of  the  day's  food 
is  the  character  and  amount  of  fuel  used.  The  following 
data  was  obtained  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Rinaker  Howe  in  her 
study  of  economy  of  fuels.  (See  Home  Economics  Journal. 
Vol.  1,  p.  416.) 


Table  XVI 
Comparative  Cost  of  Cooking  with  Coal,  Gas,  and  Electricity 


Coal 

Gas 

Electricity 

Pounds  j     Cost, 

Cu.  Ft. 

Cost 

Walt  hours 

Cost 

Breakfast.. 

Lunch  

Dinner 

Total 

12.125 

6.625 

13.750 

32.500 

$.0303 
.0165 
.034  4 

$.0813 

32.30 

43.43 

71.59 

147.32 

$.0403 
.0542 
.0894 

$.1839 

2  295.60 

2  683.45 

5  028.47 

10  007.60 

$.1148 
.1342 
.2514 

$  5000 

The  menu  was  as  follows: 

Breakfast:  Cereal,  Bacon,  Biscuits,  Apples,  Coffee 
Lunch:  Sponge  Cake,  Croquettes,  Peas,  Cocoa,  Rolls 
Dinner:  Soup,  Bread,  Roast,  Coffee,  Dressing 


23 

In  this  particular  instance  to  cook  the  three  identical 
meals  for  one  day  required  32.5  pounds  of  coal,  147.32  cubic 
feet  of  gas,  10,007  watt  hours  of  electricity,  at  a  cosl  of 
$.0813  for  coal,  $.1839  for  gas,  $.50  for  electricity;  or,  to  put 
it  another  way,  the  cost  of  cooking  by  gas  was  2.26  tines, 
and  of  electricity  6.15  times  as  great  as  that  of  cooking  by 
coal.  In  this  experiment,  coal  was  $5.00  per  ton,  gas  $1.25 
per  1000  cubic  feet,  and  electricity,  5  cents  per  watt  hour. 
As  Mrs.  Howe  says,  at  these  same  prices,  $1.00  invested  in 
coal  would  provide  for  the  same  amount  of  cooking  as  $2.26 
invested  in  gas,  or  $6.15  invested  in  electric  current. 

It  may  appear  to  the  reader  that  it  takes  a  long  time  by 
this  process  to  get  ready  to  plan  a  meal,  but  not  all  of  this  in- 
formation is  of  necessity  to  be  secured  before  there  is  any 
practice.  In  this,  as  in  most  efforts,  one  learns  by  doing,  but 
one  should  have  in  mind  some  basis  from  which  to  proceed 
and  some  goal  to  be  attained.  Practice  makes  for  perfec- 
tion in  this  as  in  other  arts.  The  ultimate  aim  of  the  house- 
wife in  regard  to  the  food  supply  is  to  provide,  at  a  reason- 
able cost,  a  diet  adapted  to  the  needs  of  her  family,  one  that 
shall  have  the  necessary  constituents  in  due  proportion  and 
in  an  attractive  and  varied  form.  The  family  purse  must  be 
considered  and  family  needs  must  decide  the  time  of  the 
meals  and  their  character.  The  custom  is  quite  universal 
of  serving  each  day  one  meal  consisting  of  a  greater  variety 
and  quantity  of  food  than  either  of  the  other  two.  This  meal 
is  known  as  the  dinner  and  consists  usually  of  a  meat,  one 
or  two  vegetables,  a  salad,  a  dessert,  and  coffee  or  tea  if  de- 
sired. With  formal  dinners,  a  soup  and  fish  course  are  often 
used.    Dinner  is  eaten  at  mid-day  or  at  night. 

The  lunch  or  supper  consists  usually  of  one  hot  dish, 
made,  it  may  be,  from  the  meat  left  from  dinner,  or  a  cheese 
dish,  or  some  people  prefer  the  soup  with  this  meal.  Then 
the  order  is  soup,  cold  meat  or  salad,  sauce  and  cake,  and 
hot  drink  as  preferred. 

Opinions  and  practice  differ  greatly  as  regards  the 
breakfast.  In  these  later  years,  the  town  dweller  has  come 
to  use  more  largely  the  French  breakfast  of  rolls  and  coffee, 
but  the  farmer  who  does  an  hour's  good  work  before  break- 


24 

fast,  wishes  something  more  substantial  and  finds  ham  and 
eggs,  creamed  potatoes,  toast,  coffee,  and  fruit  more  to  his 
liking. 

Rules  for  the  Planning  op  Meals 

With  these  facts  in  mind,  some  definite  rules  may  be 
given  for  the  planning  of  meals. 

1.  Take  one  whole  day,  at  least,  as  a  unit.  Two  or 
three  are  better  because  they  prevent  repetition  of  the  same 
article.  In  actual  practice  many  people  find  from  Monday 
to  Thursday  a  good  working  plan. 

2.  Try  to  have  representatives  of  all  the  food  principles 
at  each  meal, — not  too  much  of  protein  or  fat  or  carbohy- 
drate. To  that  end,  do  not  have  meat  and  macaroni  and 
cheese  together,  nor  rice  and  potatoes,  nor  fried  potatoes  and 
doughnuts. 

There  has  been  much  misunderstanding  about  the  term 
"balanced  rations."  One  would  get  the  impression  from 
many  of  the  statements  made  that  Nature  checks  accounts 
after  each  meal,  and  that  one  must  have  just  the  right  pro- 
portion of  each  food  at  each  meal.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we 
live  today  on  what  we  ate  yesterday,  and  we  do  well  if  we 
keep  the  balance  within  the  day.  It  is  possible  that  one  may 
get  as  much  protein  in  the  dinner  as  in  the  other  two  meals 
combined,  or  that  the  lunch  may  give  a  large  proportion  of 
starchy  food.  But  there  is  a  kind  of  balance  to  be  secured 
by  observing  the  following  rules. 

3.  A  clear  soup  and  an  ice,  instead  of  a  cream  soup 
and  heavy  dessert,  should  be  used  with  a  substantial  main 
course;  or  if  one  wishes  to  use  a  rich  soup  and  a  heavy 
dessert,  such  as  plum  pudding,  the  main  course  should  be 
lighter. 

4.  Do  not  repeat  the  same  food  even  in  different  forms 
in  the  same  meal,  as  tomato  soup  and  tomato  salad.  Use 
fruit  for  the  salad. 

5.  Make  some  contrast  between  courses.    Monotony  and 


25 

a  general  grayness  or  deadly  dullness  are  not  any  more  de- 
sirable in  food  than  in  people.  Hamburg  steak,  canned 
corn  and  mashed  potatoes,  leave  one  wishing  for  something 
to  give  snap  and  character  to  the  meal.  Tomato  sauce  and 
baked  potato  would  add  color,  flavor,  and  character. 

6.  Make  combinations  pleasing  in  appearance,  and 
color.  Have  the  salad  an  attractive  color  and  fresh,  the 
pastry  crisp,  the  bread  a  good  brown. 

The  question  of  variety,  of  which  one  hears  so  much, 
cannot  be  disposed  of  in  a  single  sentence.  One  must  first 
have  a  definition  of  what  is  meant  by  variety.  To  some  peo- 
ple, it  means  cucumbers  and  strawberries  in  mid-winter; 
in  other  words,  out-of-season  foods:  to  others,  it  means 
five  lands  of  vegetables  and  two  kinds  of  pie  and  cake  at  one 
meal:  to  still  others,  differer'  methods  of  preparing  the 
same  article;  for  example,  five  ways  of  preparing  potatoes. 
The  cost  of  the  out-of-season  foods  prohibits  for  most  people 
the  first  method  for  obtaining  variety.  The  abundance  indi- 
cated in  the  next  method  defeats  its  own  purpose,  besides 
giving  too  much  food  at  one  meal.  Mrs.  Richards  said  once 
that  ten  staple  articles  represent  nine-tenths  of  the  average 
food  supply  for  a  family.  It  is  easy,  then,  to  see  that  at  the 
rate  of  five  vegetables  in  one  meal  one  soon  exhausts  the 
available  supply  and  brings  repetition  rather  than  variety. 
The  method  of  securing  variety  coming  into  more  general 
favor  is, 

(a)  By  the  use  of  a  few  materials  at  a  time;  and, 

(b)  By  different  methods  of  preparing  the  same  article. 
The  man  who  was  offered  a  choice  of  four  kinds  of 

meat  for  breakfast  for  a  month  secured  variety  by  deciding 
that  he  would  have  no  meat  for  breakfast;  that  was  reserved 
for  dinner.  The  woman  who  had  mashed  potatoes  every 
night  for  dinner  for  three  months,  was  greatly  relieved  to 
be  given  a  baked  potato. 

The  following  menus1  show  the  use  of  four  com- 
mon foods,  beef,  cabbage,  apples,  and  potatoes,  for  twelve 
meals,  differently  prepared  each  time.  This  is  a  satisfactory 
and  feasible  way  of  obtaining  a  pleasing  variety. 

iBulletin  32,  Vol.  XI.  Household  Science  Dept.,  University  of  Illinois 


26 


1.  Porterhouse  Steak  2 

Mashed  Potato 

Cabbage  Salad  with  Nuts 

Baking  Powder  Biscuit 

Apple  Pie 

Coffee 
3.  Roast  Ribs  of  Beef  4. 

Baked  Potatoes 

Cabbage  Salad  (Sour  Cream 
Dressing) 

Plain  Bread 

Baked  Apples  with  Cream 

Coffee 
5.  Shepherd's  Pie  6. 

Creamed  Cabbage 

White  Muffins 

Apple  Souffle^  with  Whipped 
Cream 

Cocoa 
7.  Short  Ribs  8. 

French  Fried  Potatoes 

Steamed  Cabbage 

Apple  Dumplings  and  Cream 

Graham  Gems 

Coffee 
9.  Hamburg  Steak  10. 

Riced  Potatoes 

Escalloped  Cabbage 

Graham  Bread 

Apple  Tapioca 

Coffee 


11.  Beef  Loaf  12. 

Creamed  Potatoes 
Cold  Slaw 
Nut  Bread 
Dutch  Apple  Cake  with 

Cream 
Coffee 


Tongue 

Cabbage  and  Potato  Salad 

Popovers 

Apple  Turnovers  with  Cream 

Tea 

Creamed  Dried  Beef 
Stuffed  Potatoes 
Creamed  Cabbage  with 

Peppers 
Graham  Muffins 
Brown  Betty  with  Cream 
Coffee 

Corned  Beef 
Boiled  Potatoes 
Boiled  Cabbage 
Butter  Rolls 
Apple  Pudding 
Coffee 

Rolled,  Stuffed  Steak 
Browned  Potatoes 
Hot  Slaw 
Baked   Apples,    Cream,    Jelly, 

Nuts 
Coffee 

Corned  Beef  Hash 
Potatoes  with  Butter  and 

Parsley 
Cabbage  au  Gratin 
Entire  Wheat  Muffins 
Dutch  Apple  Cake,  Lemon 

Sauce 
Tea 

Pan  Broiled  Flank  Steak 
Escalloped  Potatoes 
Fried  Cabbage 
French  Rolls 

Apple  Short  Cake  and  Cream 
Cocoa 


27 

In  the  preceding  pages  there  have  been  indicated  some 
of  the  factors  that  enter  into  the  cost  and  preparation  of 
food,  and  some  of  the  knowledge  necessary  to  the  skilful 
buying  of  it,  as  well  as  to  the  successful  planning  of  meals. 

If  this  bulletin  helps  women  to  a  better  appreciation 
of  the  possibilities  and  satisfactions  of  this  phase  of  the 
work,  it  will  have  accomplished  its  purpose. 


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MAK  ^7  1935 

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IAN   "*>fi      10/17 

J  Mil    i*<»P hxrt-l 

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JUI  1  2  1^1 

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